


Scout Is Alone

by NullFlowerz



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Gen, Meta, Oneshot, Sniper is there, So I decided to fill the void, There aren't nearly enough meta tf2 stories, To my fellow meta fans, but he is very much not himself, enjoy :), meta elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29886405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NullFlowerz/pseuds/NullFlowerz
Summary: Scout spawns on a map, expecting a typical round. But, there is one problem: No one else spawned in. Well, almost no one...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Scout Is Alone

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before they added a timer to the Powerhouse map. So, just imagine this happens before that happened, I suppose. This was inspired by my experience spawning on empty maps.

The moment Scout spawned in the Powerhouse map, he knew something was wrong. Usually, the first thing he would hear was the sounds of his teammates chatting and running out to get some kills during setup time. But of course, those weren't the only thing he would hear. Sound-wise, humans are quite noticeable. There are many audio clues suggesting the presence of a human, although the brain normally filters them out. Breathing. Cracking joints. Shifting fabric as they turn their head. And then of course, there are sounds that are much more noticeable. Laughter. Small grunts as they pick up their toolboxes. The inpatient drumming of fingers against a Rocket launcher, waiting to get into the action.

That day, Scout didn't hear any of that. The only sound filling the room was his own shallow breathing. He looked around. Left, right, behind. But nobody was there. Scout felt strange. He wasn't used to seeing the spawn like this. So...lifeless. Of course, he would sometimes respawn at a different time than others. But usually, he would just run back right away, not even thinking about it. But in that moment, it was different. He wasn't going anywhere. He was just waiting. Waiting for someone, anyone, to arrive.

Scout suddenly realized, that he was standing completely still. His joints felt cold and his mind was empty, only able to muster vague confusion. He shook his head and turned around to look at the team list. On every map, the team list was placed in the resupply cabinet. Nobody liked that, as it was impractical. But the one person who had the authority to solve this problem was unavailable, as always. He pushed aside the medkits and looked at the list, placed on the inside cabinet wall. It was an electronic display with a table of people, sorted by their performances. Scout was always jealous of Medic and Heavy, as they were always at the top. They said it was a matter of skill, but he was sure that they must have been cheating in some way. He would comfort himself with the fact, that he was always higher than Sniper.

Scout shuddered as he realized, that there were only two names on the list. His only opponent was the RED Spy. He would never admit it, but he didn't know how to directly deal with him. They didn't encounter each other very often, as they were usually killed by the other's team before they could ever meet. That was the one thing they had in common: They couldn't survive that many hits. Scout dealt with this problem by simply being fast enough, while the Spy used invisibility and other clever tactics. In this aspect, Spy found Scout very cowardly. Which was ironic, since that was the exact thing Scout thought about him.

But what is speed good for, if your only opponent is invisible? Scout was very proud of his skill, but he knew he couldn't keep on running forever. Very long, but not forever. And even if he could, the capture time on Powerhouse was notoriously long. So he would have to stay in one place for a long time. And that of course, was a major advantage for his enemy.

Scout spent a while just watching the list, perhaps hoping for something to change. He was in a sort of trance, thinking intensely yet not at all. He knew this feeling from school, watching the trees rustle as his teacher was explaining algebra. 

Suddenly, he jerked as the Administrator started the countdown. He realised that he was actually holding a weapon the whole time. A jolt ran through him as he remembered he was actually going to have to use it. For many years, he would do this with glee. But that day, things were different. He didn't know how, he didn't know why. But he had a sense, that there was something more behind all of this. And whatever it was, he didn't want to fight it.

Was the enemy Spy behind this? Perhaps it was some sort of sick joke? Maybe it was a nightmare and he would soon wake up. Or maybe he would never wake up. Or maybe it all had a simple and normal explanation, that he haven't even thought of. Maybe. He tried to believe in that possibility, but at that moment, it seemed out of reach.

3...

2...

1...

Like a child in the dark, Scout was carefully walking forward, expecting danger to strike at any moment. He felt numb, as he walked through the Powerhouse halls. Perhaps it was conflicting emotions, perhaps it was a lack of stimulation. His body felt heavy and his legs were clumsy. He could hear the humming of the power plant and the sound of his own heavy footsteps. He couldn't hear his breathing anymore, as he was very tense, ready for something to break the silence and go terribly, terribly wrong. It felt like forever, until he finally found himself outside.

The air was a bit cold that day. Not terribly. It was the kind of cold that makes you only ever so slightly uncomfortable, but enough to not let you relax. The sun was visibly shining, but it was partly hidden behind grey clouds. Scout walked down the small ramp connecting from the building. He looked in the distance, still expecting to see the other team.But of course, he saw nothing.

He was yet again startled by the Administrator counting. This time, the point was becoming available for capture. Scout sighed. Normally, he would spring to action, but at that moment, the only thing he felt was melancholia and a vague sense of incoming danger. He didn't want to do this. He wasn't in the right mindset.

Suddenly, he saw something in the distance. 

It was the RED Spy.

Unlike Scout, he didn't seem suprised by the lack of teammates. He only seemed bored, as he always did. No one really knew if it was just a part of his persona, or if he was truly bored with reality as a whole. Perhaps it was both. He looked back at Scout, who, at that moment, was feeling a porofund sense of dread at having to actually face him. But the Spy seemingly didn't care about his presence. He looked back down, and out of his pants pocket, he took out a device, that Scout has never seen before. 

That was because he wasn't allowed to have one.

It was a thin black box with a keyboard and a screen attached, resembling devices that would be invented a few decades later. It was only handed out to mercs who knew what it was, requested it and were mature enough to handle it. After receiving the device, the owner would also get a list of commands they could type in. Things, that the average person couldn't even imagine. It could better the owner's eyesight, or pixelate it. It could make everything quieter, or deafeningly loud. And, maybe most importantly...

It could make the owner disappear from battle, anytime they wanted.

Of course, the device had its limits. All the changes were only from the owner's perspective. Except the disappearance. If a person input that command, they would simply vanish and reappear back at the base, in less than a blink. Which would, of course, raise questions. And so the owners were always instructed to only do it when it's absolutely necessary, and ideally, when nobody was around.

From the Scout's perspective, the RED Spy tapped in something on the keyboard. And then, he disappeared without a trace.

. . . 

Scout knew that magic existed. He has seen it many times, after all. But he always thought of it as a skill reserved for deities, with access to books in long-forgotten languages. So seeing his enemy do it so casually, efortlessly, like he had done it a thousand times before was unsettling, to say the least. The disappearance wasn't accompanied by any green lights, or smoke or sounds. In that way, it seemed almost artifical. It didn't look or sound like magic. But that was the only possible explanations Scout could think of at the moment. 

But, Scout also had a way to get away. He could simply cap all the points (which would be easy, since there was no one else around anymore). Then the round would end and, hopefully, he would reappear somewhere else.

The first point was simple enough. He simply stood there for a while. It took a lot longer than usual, but he couldn't really do anything else anyway. It seemed like the air was getting colder, but perhaps that was just an illusion, as Scout was standing still the whole time. He could never do that in an ordinary battle, as he would be dead within seconds. That also meant, that he never really had the time to just listen to the ambience. Right next to him, the water was bubbling. He had many memories of that water. Jumping into it to save himself from fire. Waiting under the surface like a shark, planning a surprise attack on the RED Demoman. Or just casually dipping his foot in it, watching as the blood was washed off his sneaker and drifted away.

Scout never really realized, how many memories he had of that place. Not just the water, but the buildings and points. Every square meter had a memory tied to it. How many times had he died on those stairs? How many glorious wins and humiliating losses did he experience next to that one turbine? It was too many to count.

He was still lost in thought as the voice from the above announced, that the point was capped. He heard that same exact line a thousand times before. As he sluggishly walked towards the RED building, he wondered, what did the Administrator think of his predicament? He hoped it wasn't pity. He hated being pitied. 

He proceeded to walk into the building, up the stairs, into the small room with a wall made out of windows. He had died here many times, too. Usually to the RED Pyro, as it was a very closed space. And what made it even worse was the fact that the room only had one small healthpack. A single bottle of turquoise liquid. Scout almost walked past it, until he realized, that he never took the time to taste it properly. He would always chug it, the flavour only registering as vaguely sweet. It was actually quite incredible, how he never actually tasted it properly through all those years. Simply because he didn't have the time. But now he had all the time in the world. 

He took the bottle and began sipping it, as he was walking down the metal stairs. The drink was surprisingly cold. Scout knew that it must have been sitting on the cold floor for a while, as healthpacks were always a bit warm after respawning. It tasted surprisingly like milk, maybe dilluted with some water and a bit of lemon juice. It wasn't very pleasant, but not bad either. Like it was designed to be consumed quickly and not distract anyone from their job. 

As Scout walked down the stairs down into the big room and looked around, he realized, that he had several options. He could still go back outside. He had no reasons to, but it was a possibility. Then there was the obvious option of capping the point and ending it all. And Scout planned to do that eventually. But he knew, that the moment he would cap, his little adventure would end. And as relieving as that would be, he wanted to check out one more thing.

The road to the RED spawn room was very narrow and carried many unpleasant memories. But Scout just wanted to see, if the room carried anything interesting. If only one enemy appeared, then surely something must have gone very wrong there, right? He knew he couldn't just walk inside. Scout doubted, that even in these strange circumstances, the invisible barrier would just stop working. 

He stood in front of the metal door, observing the texture. It reminded him of a wrench he once saw at a shop around Christmas time a few years ago. It was unusually big. Scout thought that it would be an ideal gift for their Engineer. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Scout still remembered the moment the Engineer unboxed it. He could never forget how visibly dissapointed he was. He tried to be polite and look excited, but his eyes gave him away. Scout didn't know much about wrenches, so even years later, he had no idea how the one he bought was bad. It catched his eye not only because it was very big, but also because it was very shiny. Just like the door right in front of him.

He reached out to touch it, wondering how it felt. And to his surprise, the door actually opened.

In the spawn room, he saw a figure. Quite tall, holding a rifle. It was the RED Sniper. Scout was speechless, as he didn't actually expect to see another person. He stared at his back, noticing, that he wasn't moving. He could see him breathe. But his feet remained firmly planted on the ground, his hands kept the exact same grip on his gun, for one second, five seconds, eventually two minutes. For two whole minutes, Scout stared at the Sniper in disbelief, waiting for him to do something. In a way, it reminded him of the start of the round, as he was desperately waiting for his teammates to arrive. But of course, this time, it was different. Because, in front of him, there was an actual person. In the exact same situation as him. He wasn't alone anymore. Maybe the Sniper knew something he didn't?

"Hey" Scout said, much more meekly than he'd like to.

The Sniper's body snapped around to face him. A bullet was instantly shot through Scout's skull with unnatural speed and precision.

As Scout woke up again in spawn, the image of the Sniper was still burned into his mind. It wasn't that he was outright scary, quite the opposite actually. Scout was actually unnerved by how normal he looked. So normal, that it was strange. He didn't have any particular expression. His expression was blank, the eyes had nothing behind them. The Sniper didn't look mad, or happy, or tired. He just looked... empty. 

One particular detail the Scout noticed was the way the Sniper pulled the trigger. Only his finger moved. His hands and arms were absolutely still, even beyond a professional Sniper's level. As he was recalling the memory, Scout grew unnerved. If the Sniper could shoot him that fast once, could he do it again? But then, after a bit of thinking, he felt relief. Because, for the round to end, someone had to capture all the points. And it didn't have to be him anymore. Surely, now that the Sniper knew he actually had an enemy, he would try to win, right? And since he had the ability to kill him on sight, there was no reason for Scout to even try. He could just sit back, relax and let the Sniper win. 

Two minutes passed, until he heard rhytmical footsteps in front of the door.

Then, they stopped. 

Scout suddenly realised, that the middle point has never been actually captured. 

He knew this, because he remebered, that he never actually heard it announced. Which obviously meant, that the Sniper wasn't able to capture the third and final point. But if he wasn't going to capture the point, why was he in front of the door? 

The memory of the Sniper shooting him flashed to Scout's mind. The only way to end the game was for one of the teams to win. At that moment, each team had only one person. One of the people obviously had no interest in actually capturing the points. And the other would now be instantly shot, if he stepped foot outside the spawnroom.

There were no options left but to stay in the Spawnroom and hope for someone, anyone, to arrive.

This was going to be a long day..


End file.
